Three's a Crowd
by trekangel
Summary: My first complete fanfic story from P/C Archive challenge: A/U where we see Picard and Crusher's relationship through the eyes of the crew as they deal with the aftermath of a phenomenon that accidentally switches some of the senior staff's bodies.
1. Chapter 1

**Three's a Crowd**

_**Chapter 1: Three For the Road**_

Seven hours, 15 minutes and 32-point-five seconds. That was precisely how long it had been since the shuttle carrying Geordi, Data, and Crusher had left Galor IV to return to the _Enterprise_ after delivering Data's mother, Juliana Tainer, from her labs on Atrea IV to the Daystrom Institute's annex. She had agreed to be part of the team that would be studying the disassembled remains of Data's android "brother" Lore and appreciated the week that the three officers had spent there sharing their insights.

Months earlier, while under Lore's influence, Data had told Geordi that his life aboard the _Enterprise_ was a waste and that his quest to become more human was a misguided, evolutionary step in the wrong direction. The fact of the matter was that he never wanted to literally _be_ human. All he ever wanted was to _feel_ human; to know and understand the subtle nuances of the emotions that added depth and meaning to existence.

Lore had offered him the chance to experience something more than just a simple series of reactions to the events in his life, the parameters of which had expanded exponentially as he observed the interactions between his long-time shipmates on the _Enterprise_. However, the repercussions of Lore's actions under the influence of the emotion chip made him hesitant to use it on himself. Data knew it was not because he was afraid. He was incapable of fear. Still, he could not find a sufficiently appropriate expression to explain his trepidation, so he determined that he would relegate the query to one of his sub-routines for further analysis later on and simply continue his informational observations of the crew. Splitting his attention between flying the ship and an internal review of his current avocations, his relays dissected a scene he had witnessed between Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher before their departure seven days earlier.

Eleven-point-three seconds was all it lasted; It was a span of time that would have been almost indiscernible to anyone who was not looking for it but for Data, it was another revealing indicator that the relationship between the captain and Doctor Crusher had changed in the months since their experience on Kesprytt, although neither one of them had spoken about anything more than what was in the official report.

Of course he understood their desire to maintain a certain level of discretion, even secrecy. Most officers refrained from making their personal lives the object of ship scuttlebutt, but somehow these two made a conscientious effort to live as far out of sensor range as possible. However for a being with Data's advanced analytical abilities, it was glaringly obvious that _something_ that had happened while they were telepathically linked together that changed the subtle ways that they interacted with each other. There was the twelve-point-one seconds that the captain's fingers lingered on the small of the doctor's back as he led her to the dining area in the rear of the shuttle, the fifteen-point-eight seconds that her hand remained resting on his thigh after they sat down, and finally the eleven-point-three seconds that his hand spent on top of hers as they became engrossed in a conversation that he surmised was of a serious and intimate nature, given Doctor Crusher's unsuccessful attempt to keep her eyes from over saturating.

In his positronic matrix, a series of circuits fired off in an attempt to find resources in his database that might allow him to comprehend the estimated depth of their bond, but determined that by the way that they were looking at each other as the captain bid them luck and left the shuttle, their relationship had evolved into a complicated singularity unlike any he had ever seen, with emotions the depth of which he would probably never be able to calculate much less understand.

Geordi looked back in the direction of the sleeping quarters where Beverly had retreated for a private subspace transmission from the captain. "So…what do you suppose they're talking about?"

"If you are referring to Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard, it is possible that she is briefing him on the details of our mission, but since I am not aware of any of that information being of a classified nature, it is more probable that the conversation is of a private nature."

"You're probably right," answered Geordi with a smile and an approbatory nod.

"Interesting. Am I correct in assuming by your reaction that you also believe that the captain and Doctor Crusher may be involved in an intimate relationship?"

Geordi shot a cautious look back to the door separating the cockpit and the living quarters, and then looked back at his friend.

"Let's just say that the captain and Doctor Crusher have a really long and complicated history, and I wouldn't be surprised if being telepathically linked, like they were on Kesprytt, brought some things up to the surface that they've been holding back. Getting put into situations like has a funny way of changing people, you know."

"My recent observations have led me to conclude that there is an above-average likelihood that you are correct. But I am curious, Geordi. There are nearly a thousand people on the _Enterprise_, and yet I do not find myself drawing conclusions about the relationship status of any the other crewmembers. Is it logical to assume that my interest may stem from the visibility that the captain and doctor have as senior officers?"

"I don't know. Maybe. After all, it's just part of human nature to be curious about each other. In this case, I think the interest stems from the fact they are our friends."

"Ah. Then it is similar to when a crewmember dies. The depth of how the loss is perceived seems to be determined by the familiarity that an individual had with them."

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it. You see Data, sometimes in life, if you're really lucky, you find yourself in a place that has the perfect combination of professional opportunities and personal dynamics to allow you to form bonds with people who you not only respect, but also come to care about. Those bonds are what make you look out for each other, worry about each other, and want to see good things happening for each other."

"And you believe that a relationship of that nature would be good for them?"

"Data, I'd like to believe that a relationship of that nature would be good for _all_ of us."

Just as Geordi finished that sentence, the door behind them hissed open and Beverly emerged, smiling serenely and carrying a tray of fruit and cheese.

"So anyway," Geordi said, clearing his voice in an indication that they needed to change the subject, "I debated leaving the emotion chip with the team at the Institute because my duties on the _Enterprise_ have been piling up so high that I just can't find the time or the energy to study it like I'd like to, but since it _is_ the only one in existence, I'd rather not let it out of my sight."

Data picked up on Geordi's signal and acknowledged it with a tilt of his head and a brief sideways glance to Beverly. "I believe that was the best course of action. And since I do not require rest, I can dedicate a good portion of my off-duty activities to continuing my analysis of Doctor Soong's research."

"Well," interrupted Beverly as she held out a plate to Geordi, "Data may not require rest or sustenance, but you and I still do, so eat up."

"Thanks, Doc." He answered, taking the plate from her and serving himself from the tray she set between them.

"You're going to love these plums, Geordi. One of the doctors at the Institute had a personal-"

Before she could continue a violent shudder tossed the shuttle from side to side, sending the tray and pieces of fruit into the air.

"Data, what's going on?" Beverly screamed over the sound of the red alert klaxon, bracing herself between the other two officers.

"I do not know. Sensors are picking up a sudden increase in-"

Data's voice trailed off as the shaking worsened, and then suddenly, a blinding _wave_ of light enveloped the entire cabin. It lasted exactly three-point-nine seconds, and when it as over, all three inhabitants of the shuttle were unconscious.

* * *

Everything was exceptionally dark and quiet in the shuttle, and Beverly could feel by the lack of vibrations that they were floating dead in space.

"_Bad choice of words_," she chastised herself silently, groaning as she tried to straighten up from the position on the floor where she had been tossed.

She tried to shake her head to gain some clarity, but something didn't feel right. Her body was aching and her head was pounding, and when she went to rub her temples, she didn't feel skin. She gasped when she realized what she felt was metal, and her panic-stricken fingers danced across the front of her face only to find that she was wearing Geordi's visor. With a sense of dread, she reached the top of her head and found that her cascading mane of long hair was gone. Unable to make sense of what she was feeling or of the images she was seeing through the device, she cleared her throat to speak.

"What the hell just happened?"

Overcome by the realization that she was speaking with a voice that was not hers, she watched as across the cockpit her own body straightened up and looked around in confused wonder before opening its mouth to respond to her.

"Doctor, it seems that we have somehow become…_displaced_…by a phenomenon of unknown origin," answered Data, who touched his throat when he realized where his reply was coming from and then looked down at the pale, feminine hands that were now under is control.

A few feet away from them, a soft mumble came from where Data's body was slumped over the controls.

"Did anyone catch the registry number of whatever that was that hi-" Geordi gasped as he caught his reflection in the window in front of him and realized that he was speaking with Data's voice. "Oh my god!"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: The Aftermath**_

There was a tension-filled unrest in the private exam room in sickbay as it was cleared of all staff but Doctor Selar and Nurse Ogawa. It was hard enough for the senior officers to address the three affected crew members directly in their new bodies, so to prevent any added confusion, the captain thought it would be wise to limit the amount of people who were aware of what had happened. They were putting in a good effort despite how disconcerting and strange the whole situation was, but every once in a while, someone would slip, addressing one of the away team's physical bodies only to be answered by that person from their new 'host'.

In one part of the room, Doctor Crusher was standing at a monitor going over readings with Doctor Selar and Data could see aspects of her mannerisms that reminded him that she was the one who now inhabited Geordi's body. They were little idiosyncrasies she subconsciously engaged in when she was working on a complicated problem, like when she kept reaching back to run 'her' fingers through her hair only to get frustrated by its absence, and when she occasionally bit down on her lip.

Nearby, Geordi's eyes were bright with discovery as he sat there flexing 'his' fingers and toes and taking in all of the colors and shapes around him while he spoke to Commander Riker and Captain Picard, who kept looking over his shoulder to watch Nurse Ogawa examining Doctor Crusher's body.

"So there were no warnings or signs of anything unusual on the sensors before this happened?" questioned the Will.

"No," answered Geordi. "We were just talking about Data's emotion chip and getting ready to eat when all of a sudden everything started to shake and then there was this bright light. It happened so fast that I didn't feel a thing. It wasn't until we regained consciousness that we realized we were switched."

The captain turned him. "Do you think that the emotion chip was emitting a sub-space signal that attracted an unknown phenomenon? After all, Doctor Soong was able to activate a signal that Data picked up from across several systems."

"I don't know. Doctor Crusher was holding on to both of us when it happened, so another theory is that we came across some sort of alien probe or transporter-type anomaly that scanned us and somehow got us scrambled. But until we check out the sensor logs, there's just no telling how this happened."

"Studying those logs will be your first priority just as soon as we are sure that there has been no physical damage done to your bodies."

Back across the room, Doctor Selar and Beverly were looking at some of the results of the away team's medical scans. The intensity in the Vulcan physician's eyes was the only thing that gave any hint that they were looking at something that Beverly would preferred to have kept private had the circumstances been different, but every little detail would be important to finding the cause, and much more importantly, the solution to this problem.

A few feet away from them, Data closed 'his' eyes for a moment. He felt strange. One of the sensations he could recognize as hunger, but the other one was something for which he had no frame of reference…a fluttering of some sort, followed by small, unpleasant waves of nausea. Curious about the results of the medical scans, he reached out for one of the tricorders the doctors had been using and gasped when he read the results. Then he gasped again when he realized that he had just gasped. He was feeling…_really feeling_.

"Doctor, are you aware that these results are showing-"

Beverly turned to face him and when she realized what he was looking at, cut him off before he could continue. "Yes, Data. I know what the results show."

The ominous tone of Beverly's words drew the attention of the other officers as she took the tricorder from him and looked at the image on the screen before passing it to the captain, who unintentionally flinched when she followed that action with a gentle squeeze of his arm. Even with the visor covering her eyes, it was obvious that the gesture wounded her.

"Beverly, is everything all right?" asked Deanna

"Yes…and no, given the current situation."

The captain took the tricorder from her, intensely focused on the readings. "Has the child been affected by the phenomenon?" he asked, slightly choked from a combination of joy and concern as he looked from her body to Geordi's.

"_Child_?" said Deanna and Will almost in unison.

"Did you just say _child_?" reiterated Geordi.

"Yes. I'm…I mean, _we_…are pregnant. And by the looks of these results, she seems to be fine."

"_She_?" asked Jean-Luc, a faint smile cracked his melancholy as their eyes remained fixed on each other.

Beverly nodded, folding her arms in front of her in frustration after realizing that she didn't have that blue lab coat pockets to shove her hands into.

Judging by his initial statement and the lack of shock he expressed when he looked at the scans, Data figured that the captain must have known about the pregnancy, although the gender had obviously been a mystery until now. Everyone else responded with a combination of shock and worry that manifested itself in a respectful silence and a bunch of blank stares. Whereas under any other circumstances, an announcement like this would have been met with jubilation, the gravity of the situation dictated that questions or celebratory responses would somehow be inappropriate, if not ill timed.

Will was the first to muster up a response. "Was this somehow caused by the phenomenon?"

"No. I was aware of the pregnancy before I even left the ship."

"You did? Then why didn't the baby get displaced along with yours?" asked Deanna.

"I don't know. Maybe because there was an insufficient amount of hosts to go around." she answered.

Fascinated, Data took a tricorder and started to scan 'his' abdomen. "Perhaps it was just that at this stage of development, it was simply too small to be perceived by whatever did this to us as a person. The fetus is only about fourteen weeks in gestation, and history has shown that many cultures still debate on whether or not to recognize an unborn child as a sentient being until it has developed to a stage where life outside of the womb is viable."

"Or maybe trapping one of us in the body of an unborn child simply wouldn't have been amusing enough," responded Beverly.

Will raised a suspicious eyebrow. "So you think Q could be behind this?"

"No, this is not his style," answered the captain. "And even if he did do it, he would have revealed himself and his purpose by now. Whatever caused this…_accident_…has an intelligence and knew that there were three distinct being on that shuttle even though one of them was an android, and if we are going to find out who or what it is, we are going to have to go back to where it all happened."

"Captain," asked Deanna, "if we go back there and run into whatever caused this, how can we be sure that it won't happen to the entire ship?"

"I think we can start by sending a probe out to the sector first," suggested Will. "We can keep the ship on yellow alert with the shields raised to until we get there and, just as an extra precaution, we should also consider confining all non-essential personnel to quarters."

"Agreed. I also want a team to go over sensor readings of the shuttle and provide their findings to Commander Laforge and Mister Data. For now, I think it would be in the best interest of everyone if you all limit how much interaction you have with the rest of the crew. I will provide you with whatever you need for your research, but you should confine yourselves to quarters until we can figure this out."

"Captain, I think it might be wise if the three of us stayed together just in case the anomaly returns or it becomes necessary for us to remain in close proximity when a way is found to reverse the scramble," suggested Beverly as she looked over to Data. "It will also allow me to keep an eye on the baby."

Data watched as, with no trace of hesitation, the captain reached over to the body of his chief engineer, now the home of the woman he loved, and put a reassuring hand on hers. Without his positronic brain, he couldn't calculate how long the gesture lasted, but he could see by the way Beverly's expression softened that it brought her comfort.

"I think that is a good idea. I will not even attempt to imagine how difficult this must be for you, but I promise you," he paused, then looked around at the other two officers, "I promise _all_ of you that we _will_ find a way to reverse this."

Again, Data closed his eyes and focused on the new sensations he was feeling. His heart was beating rapidly and his skin felt warm. There was also some kind of lump in his throat and he had an overwhelming desire to cry as he watched the captain tentatively pull away from Beverly and leave the room. The only thing he could quantify was that he was frustrated by the fact that he couldn't tell if what he was feeling was empathy, anxiety, hope, fear or love…and that whatever it was, he couldn't turn it off or bury it in a sub-routine.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: They Don't Exactly Prepare You For This at Starfleet Medical**_

As the _Enterprise_ lulled into the gamma shift, the affected officers set up shop in Beverly's quarters after picking up some personal items they need for their 'host' bodies.

Geordi had been the last to arrive, having spent the better part of two hours seeing the ship and its crew through new eyes. Somehow he always thought that Data's vision would have been closer to his own, processing images that he saw into a simple series of shapes and colors and lines. But in fact, the opposite that was true. Through Data's eyes, he could make out all of the rich, subtle shades that fell in between his normal color spectrum and it was almost like seeing the world for the first time. Everything, from the electric blue of the warp engines to the pale, khaki carpeting in the hall filled him with what he could only assume was the closest that Data could ever feel to a sense of wonder. Even running into people he had seen every day for the past seven years gave him a chance to truly appreciate what made them unique, from the pale blue of Mr. Mot's plump, Bolian face to the stunning copper-red of Beverly's hair cascading against her porcelain skin. He wanted to enjoy the newness of it all, but found that the interpretive part of his positronic brain could only quantify the experience as "_beautiful_" and relegate the information to the appropriate sector of his informational mainframe while the part of him that was Geordi speculated on whether or not he would be able to retain the knowledge after he was back in his own body.

In the meantime, he continued studying the shuttle's logs at a makeshift workstation surrounded by computer consoles, tricorders and pads while his pale fingers danced across the controls. Whereas Beverly and Data were exhausted, he was feeling the complete opposite-he was invigorated. He was working with a clarity of thought and mental agility that surprised him as he switched back and forth between sub-routines, studying Data's emotion chip, the sensor readings and a few back-logged experiments of his own without a hint of fatigue or distraction_. _

"_Is this what it's always like for him?" he mused to himself. "I mean, it's weird. I feel like me, and yet, I don't. I have my own memories and thoughts, but they don't feel the same. Maybe that's it…maybe the difference is that I don't FEEL anything."_

He looked up from what he was doing for a moment and scanned the room to see Beverly heading to sickbay in his body and Data heading to the bedroom in Beverly's body, their eyes already heavy from the stress of the day's events. Upon further self-examination, he was neither tired, nor hungry, nor worried. As a matter of fact, he had no needs at all. Where once in a while he had found himself looking forward to the day when he would share his quarters with someone, now he was finding the company nothing more than background activity. It was almost…liberating…to be able to get through his life without the emotional baggage that normally cluttered up his mind. Still, as much as he wanted to experiment further with the sudden abilities he was discovering in the body of his new host, Geordi knew that if he had anything to say about it, this was going to be a temporary visit.

"_Sure, for now my life may not be as intriguing as Data's, but it's mine…and I still have a lot of living I have to do." _

* * *

__

In the low light of sickbay, Beverly was sitting upright on one of the biobeds while Doctor Selar ran a diagnostic on Geordi's visor just a few feet away. She was having trouble processing the input she was receiving and it was resulting in headaches that flared through her brain like lightening bolts followed by feelings of vertigo and queasiness. She chuckled out loud when she realized that the sensation was very similar to what she had experienced the day before.

"What is it?" asked Jean-Luc, who had rushed to sickbay the moment he heard she was there.

"It almost feels like morning sickness."

"At least you can laugh about it."

"Well, that's only because I realize that crying about it isn't going to get us anywhere." She smirked and went to run her fingers through her hair again, but then sighed heavily when she remembered it was no longer there.

"Don't worry. You won't have to put up with it much longer."

"I hope not. Although, I have to admit that there's something kind of practical about having a crew cut. I might have to try it when I get my body back."

"I'd rather you didn't. I prefer your hair exactly the way you left it."

They shared a half-hearted laugh then the room fell into silence again. Beverly couldn't see without the visor, but she knew Jean-Luc was still there. Geordi's senses were amazingly acute, so she could feel his presence…hear his breathing…smell his scent…and it made her ache to be close to him, to wrap her arms around him and make love straight on until morning, when they would share a laugh about this all being some crazy dream over coffee and croissants smeared in that Bajoran moba marmalade that she loved so much. She could barely openly express her feelings to him when she was in her own body, much less the chief engineer's, so the memories of the stolen happy moments they had shared over the past few months flashed in her mind until Doctor Selar interrupted her ruminations with news that was not in the least bit surprising.

"Doctor Crusher, the results of the diagnostic on the visor and your bioscans show no physical reason for the pain you are suffering. It is my conclusion that your brain patterns, being essentially new to the apparatus, are undergoing a period of adjustment to the signal inputs. I can administer something for the pain and perhaps provide you with an alpha wave inducer to help you sleep."

"That won't be necessary."

"I am sorry, Doctor."

"No need to apologize. Thank you for your help and thank you for coming, Jean-Luc. You didn't have to, you know."

"But I did. I have a vested interest in your well being after all." He reached over to help her put the visor back on. "The Doctor is right. You're exhausted and you need to get some sleep. I can make that an order if I need to."

Too tired to argue with him, she raised her hand to her forehead in a mock salute, "Aye, Captain."

"Good."

A palpable tension filled the room as Beverly noticed that neither one of them was making a move.

"Well, this is awkward."

"I'm sorry, Beverly."

"I wish everyone would stop apologizing. It was an accident. And it's not like this is permanent, right?"

"Of course not, you're right."

"_Right_. Besides, Newton's Third Law states that for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction, so it's just a matter of us finding the right _reaction_."

"And we will. But you should get some rest tonight. I can escort you to your quarters when you're through here with Doctor Selar."

He reached over and put his hand on her knee, and although Beverly knew that he was only trying to be supportive, it only served to reinforce the gravity of their predicament.

"Maybe you'd better not."

"Why?"

"Because…" she answered softly, "I don't know how I will handle having to watch you walk away."

"I could stay…help out Data and Commander LaForge."

"Look, I know what you're trying to do and it's nice of you to offer, but you're going to need your rest as much as I am. It's ok. I'll be all right."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I think it would be best."

"Beverly…"

"I know, Jean-Luc, I know."

Neither one of them had to say anything else. The discretion their relationship necessitated had helped them evolve to the point where they could communicate more with looks and silent expressions than they ever could with words long before they had become lovers, but the knowledge _had_ to be enough for now. Beverly knew she couldn't expect anything more; not as long as she was in Geordi's body.

"You should go now."

"All right, but I will stop by to see you first thing in the morning."

"Okay, I'll have breakfast waiting."

She cracked a faint smile, which he responded to with his own hopeful grin.

"Goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

He moved to leave, but stopped in place and turned to face her.

"Beverly, I love you."

"I love you too."

Beverly watched him hesitate before he exited sickbay in a blur of colored lines and pattern signatures as Doctor Selar walked over and administered the hypo spray with a familiar hiss. It only took a matter of seconds for the throbbing in her head to subside, but as she slipped onto her feet to leave, she found herself wishing that the pain in her heart could be as easily alleviated.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: A Learning Experience**_

Data never knew that humans could get such pleasure from taking a simple shower. He didn't even realize he had been in there for over an hour as the warm, sonic pulses melted away every ache in Beverly's muscles. Invigorated, he stepped out onto the cold bathroom floor, surprised by the unpleasantness of the sensation. Throwing another towel down, he stepped onto it and then paused to examine Beverly's body in the mirror. He knew that he no longer had the ability to collect, access and store information the way he used to, but decided that as long as he had to be in this new form, he might as well use it as an educational opportunity in hopes that when he was restored to his old body he could add the new information to his database. So he looked and he touched with enthusiastic curiosity since his experiences as a male, sexual or otherwise, could never compare to the experience of being a pregnant human female.

Compared to his memories of Tasha's body, Beverly's was taller and thinner, but still in excellent shape for someone her age and condition. Tasha had been almost all muscle and sinew, but Beverly's had a softness and elegance to her that was even further enhanced by her pregnancy. Data ran his hands along her neck, breasts, and the small bump of her belly, and then flexed and studied her fingers. Her nails were trimmed short, and he guessed it was as a precaution and a courtesy to her patients to prevent her from accidentally scratching them during physical examinations.

He shook out the thick mane of red hair and fingered the stray strands, wondering what he was supposed to do with it until his ruminations were once again interrupted by the quick fluttering of the child inside of him, and the realization that this body once again was feeling pangs of hunger.

Tired, rested, hungry, full, sleepy, restless…he was being barraged by a constant wave of emotions and needs in this body, and it fascinated him how humans managed find a way to compartmentalize and prioritize all the random flotsam floating around in their subconscious and focus on what they were doing. In his own body, he had no real needs. He had tasks and experiments and opportunities to learn, but no needs. It was a testament to Beverly's brilliance that she could function as masterfully as she did in her position under these circumstances. Lives depended on it, and although he had always felt what he could only characterize as respect for her, what he felt now was unparalleled admiration.

Wrapping his body in a thick robe, Data moved into the bedroom and opened up Beverly's closet. She had a curious assortment of outfits hanging there-a mix of uniforms, civilian clothing and theatrical costumes neatly sorted by use. He had seen her wearing nearly all of them, except the one outfit pushed far to the right of the rest of them. He opened up some space so that he could inspect it more closely. It looked to be an impossibly short nineteenth century French maid's uniform with a low-cut, corseted bodice.

"_Hmmm_," he wondered to himself, _"I have never seen Doctor Crusher wear this in any of her stage productions."_

He shrugged and decided to let it go. Such an outfit would definitely not be practical much less comfortable for what he expected was going to be a long night.

* * *

Upright in the chair across from his bed was as close as Jean-Luc was going to get to his mattress tonight. With the exception of the week that the away team was gone, he had spent nearly every night of the past few months sharing his bed with Beverly, and now he was finding it difficult to sleep without her. As his mind drifted back to their recent sleeping arrangements, he mused about how neither one of them really had a side that they preferred; something that he guessed was probably a result of entirely too many years not having to share with anyone.

He found it intriguing that if anything, Beverly favored the middle, which was fine with him as it usually meant that one or more parts of her body would end up draped over him at some point of the night. Tonight, it was that absence of the warm weight of her body that was making the thought of climbing under the sheets all the more uninviting. There was no mane of red curls to run his fingers through or tangle of long legs intertwining with his. All alone in the quiet darkness, his quarters felt as desolate and lonely as he started to drift…and remember.

The vision was a vague shadow at first, but then as he focused, he could see her smiling naked in his bed. With outstretched arms, she lured him to her and pulled him forcefully into an embrace. He could hear her breathlessly whispering his name, taste her sweat on his tongue as he traced it over the soft peaks of her breasts, smell the scent of Edosian lilacs in her hair, feel her trembling under his touch. He loved her with all of his senses and with every part of his heart, soul, body and mind, yearning for her in sleep as much as he did in consciousness.

"_Beverly_…" he whispered back to the vision of his lover, until the sound of his door chime startled him awake.

It was late, and the only one he could even imagine would come to see him at this time of night would have been Beverly, so he hoped that Deanna didn't get offended when he greeted her with an unintentional mien of disappointment.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so late, Captain. I've just finished checking in on Data, Geordi and Beverly and just thought you'd like to know their status."

"Thank you, yes." He answered, inviting her to come in and sit. "So, how are they getting along?"

"They are handling it as well as can be expected. Fortunately, they are seasoned Starfleet officers and not easily demoralized."

"Good…good."

"And what about you, Captain?"

"I am doing my best to find a solution to this dilemma."

"Of that I have no doubt, Sir, but how are you _feeling_?"

"I'm fine. I'm not the one who was robbed of my corporeal form only to be haphazardly thrown into another one."

"That may be true, but this accident hasn't just affected them. It has affected everyone who cares about them…especially you. We have all been essentially robbed of our friends and colleagues, but you are being faced with the prospect of being separated from both the woman you love and your unborn child all at once."

Jean-Luc rose from his chair and lumbered over to the window, bracing himself against its frame as he looked into the vast emptiness outside. In the reflection of the glass, he could see his face was pale and his postured slumped, and he could feel the last vestiges of composure draining out of him.

"I miss her."

"I'm sorry, Captain. I know you do. And she misses you too. Beverly has been very guarded with the details about your relationship, but _has_ confided in me how happy she's been lately. And although you and I haven't spoken of it, I don't have to be an empath to sense that you feel the same way."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only to those who know you."

She smiled sweetly. It had been a hard secret to keep, but he despite his usual reluctance to disclose details about his private life, he suddenly found himself feeling relieved to be able to talk about it with someone.

"I suppose everyone was aware that there has always been closeness between us that is different from what we have with the rest of the crew. But I knew that things were never going to be the same after our experience on Kesprytt. There we were, telepathically linked, our subconscious minds unwittingly divulging all of our innermost thoughts and desires. There was no way we could continue denying what we were feeling after that, and once we decided to stop being afraid of what might happen if things went wrong, we gave ourselves permission to focus on what might happen if things went _right_. From then on, it became something greater and more satisfying than friendship and I can't remember when I've been happier."

"And when you found out about the baby?"

Deanna watched at his countenance changed at the mention of the baby. He smiled and lowered himself back into his chair while stroking his chin contemplatively.

"It was a sweet fortuity. Once we got over our initial shock, we decided that we were going to allow ourselves time to enjoy the idea impending parenthood privately for as long as we could. I have been told before that a child can change your perceptions of love, but I never imagined that it could be so powerful. And now…"

He couldn't finish the words.

"They're not dead, Captain."

"I know. But I also know that although she is alive and safe and only a few decks away from me, I cannot go to her and hold her and assure her that we will get through this together. Everything I love about Beverly is now residing in the body of my chief engineer, while her body is now a pied-à-terre for my science officer. Starfleet doesn't exactly prepare you for something like this and I do not know how I am supposed to feel. "

"I can't tell you how you should feel, but I do think it's important for you to acknowledge whatever emotions you are dealing with so that you can consider what you will do if you can't reverse this with a clear head."

"No. I can't do that. Perhaps I am only indulging in self-denial by refusing to face the possibility, but I simply _will not_ allow myself to consider it an option. I did not wait all this time for the chance to love Beverly only to lose her. Not this way. Not now. I will not allow it."

Jean-Luc looked into Deanna's dark eyes and could tell that she understood. Without Beverly to hold on to, hope was all he had to get him through, and he was going to hold onto it with ferocious tenacity until his family was back in his arms again.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5: Three's a Crowd**_

Although by design Beverly's quarters were not that far from sickbay, the walk back seemed longer this time. Much of the crew was unaware of what had happened to them, so it wasn't their fault that it felt like a jab in the gut to her every time one of them passed by and addressed her as 'Commander LaForge'. Fortunately, their interactions were limited to a few polite goodnights which she acknowledged with equal courtesy.

The rest of the time, she found herself distracted by pockets of colored lights emanating from various panels along the wall and flickering waves of energy coming from tiny fissures that only Geordi's visor could ever pick up. He had warned her that the constant influx of signals to its pattern buffers might be overwhelming, and he was not exaggerating. Somewhere down the line, she had to remind herself to look into what she could do about that, but for now, all she wanted to do was turn out the lights and go to sleep. She sighed as she reached her door, but nearly crashed into it face-first when it wouldn't open, having not been programmed to do so automatically by the presence of Geordi's com signal.

"Dammit."

She cursed under her breath and punched in her entry code to override the controls before entering to find Geordi and Data hard at work.

"Hey Doc. How are you feeling?" Geordi asked from behind a stack of padds.

"Better, thanks." She moved over to where Data had set up work on the dining table and pulled a chair over to sit by him to examine the baby with her tricorder. "How about you?"

"I am fine, Doctor." He leaned back a little so that she could get a better reading and cocked his head. There was a deep furrow in her brow. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm just not used to seeing my body from this angle." She stared at him and raised an eyebrow after noticing the slightly disheveled status of 'her' tresses. "Data…what did you do to my hair?"

"I'm sorry Doctor. I am not accustomed to having to dealing with quite so much of it."

"Well, just brush it out to keep it from getting tangled and it will be fine." She untangled a few strands before looking back down at the tricorder. "The baby's readings all look good. You're going to need to make sure you eat at least five small meals a day, including at least four to six servings of dairy. Just avoid whole milk. For some reason it gives me heartburn."

"I will, Doctor."

Almost as instinctively as if it were still her own, Beverly placed her hand over the spot where the baby was growing. "Can you feel her moving?"

"Yes. It is a most intriguing sensation…she is quite active."

"She's got a lot of space to swim around in right now, so it's a little like having a swarm of butterflies in your stomach. But as she gets bigger, it's probably going to feel more like she's playing a game of Pareses Squares."

She frowned as her hand massaged the hardened bulge of her abdomen. As much as she hated the morning sickness, the mood swings, and even the surprise bouts of hiccups she found herself dealing with in the middle of the night, she would give anything to be back in her body and feel her daughter's presence again. She had to force herself to pull away before the longing consumed her.

"Doctor, when we were in sickbay, you mentioned that you have only known about your pregnancy for a couple of weeks. I take it that means that means you and the captain did not plan to have this child."

Unable to continue watching her own face stare back at her, Beverly leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes and exhaled.

"No, Data. We didn't plan this. But sometimes the _best_ surprises in life are the unexpected ones." She smiled wistfully as she focused her sight on some non-descript portion of the ceiling, and then let out a chuckle. "Although I can't imagine what the odds are that after the thousands of contraceptive injections I have installed, my own would be the one that failed."

"I am sorry, but I can no longer perform instantaneous calculations."

Listening from where he was working, Geordi looked up. "Actually, the odds are one in 11,496 thousand." He cracked a big smile, obviously impressed that he _could_ provide the answer.

Beverly's smile left her face, replaced by a tinge of sadness. "Thanks, but that was a rhetorical question." There hadn't been any anger or malice in her tone, but an uncomfortable silence fell over the room nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Geordi. I just really miss being in my body. And I miss…" Her words trailed off, and when she looked over to him, she could see the sympathy in his expression.

"I know, Doc. It's okay. We're going to find a way to fix this."

"I know. It just took us so long to get to this point."

"May I ask why it took so long, Doctor?" wondered Data.

"Well, I think that maybe when people suffer a lot of losses in their lives, they tend to put this wall up around their hearts because they can't bear the thought of feeling that hurt again. They forget that as much as that wall can keep the bad things out, it won't let good things in either. I started building that wall when I lost my parents and every time I lost someone, I put up another brick. By the time Wesley left, I had convinced myself that if I opened my heart to anyone else, somehow I'd end up losing them too."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Jean-Luc. He was _so_ persistent. He found a way to break through that wall and reminded me that it is braver to open up your heart and risk loving someone than to convince yourself that it would be safer to give them up because you're afraid of losing them. The fact of the matter is that we have no control over how or when that will happen, but we do have control of every day that comes before then. What is important is to treasure those moments and realize that loving someone doesn't make us vulnerable…it makes us strong."

Beverly raised a thoughtful finger to her chin. She could see the image in her mind of Jean-Luc sitting across from her while they dined in his quarters after their release from Kesprytt, his expression so full of certainty and love. She could remember every single emotion that burst through her like a warp core breach when he leaned over and kissed her, and the contentment of waking up next to him in the morning without a shred of regret. It wasn't until she noticed Geordi and Data staring at her that she realized she had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

Wiping away a few runaway tears from her cheeks, she straightened up in her seat and smiled. "I guess I can't blame this on pregnancy hormones now, can I?"

"I think we'll let you slide this time."

"Thanks."

"You know, I think the captain is going to be a really good dad."

"I think so too." Rising from her chair, Beverly took a last look around the room to all of the equipment that had been brought in. "I think I'm going to turn in for a bit. You'll wake me if you find anything?"

"Sure thing."

With a nod, she turned and went into the bedroom with the same lyrical gait that she had in her own body.

"Geordi, did we say anything to upset Doctor Crusher?"

"No, it's not that, Data. This has been hard for _all_ of us, but if we can't find a way to reverse what happened to us, she's got the most to lose. I mean think about it. You and I both have lives that we'd miss, but we don't have children."

"So are you saying that Doctor Crusher's loss would be considered greater than ours because she has a family?"

"No, I'm not saying that. But it wouldn't be the same for her as it would for us. You and I don't really have anyone aside from ourselves who would suffer from having to deal with these changes. Beverly is facing being separated from Wes and her unborn baby as well as losing her relationship with the captain."

"But technically, the Doctor would not be losing them as all of her memories and emotions will still be alive."

"Yeah, but she'd be in _my_ body. Try to imagine how that would be, not just for her, but for the captain and Wes- to look at the body of the person they have this whole lifetime of history with only to find that everything they loved was not there anymore. Believe me, it would be bad for us, but it would definitely be worse for her."

"I see. I am curious about how much bearing a person's physical being has on love. With which part of a person does someone truly fall love with? Can that love survive a change in venues, so to speak? And is love limited by the parameters of who we are physically?"

"Those are all good questions that people have been trying to answer since the dawn of time, Data, and if there were any simple answers, then maybe the universe would be a much different place."

* * *

The start of alpha shift brought with it an air of urgency as the senior staff gathered in the ready room to go over Geordi's latest findings. He had spent most of the night in stellar cartography with little or no effect on his stamina, but Data found himself surprised by what a night of sleepless worry and sensory overload could do to the human body. Fatigue was a foreign sensation to him, coupling that with the constant needs that Beverly's body had to eat and relieve itself had turned the night into jarring fluctuations between states of restlessness and unconsciousness.

He could also tell that Doctor Crusher hadn't had much more luck adjusting to being in Geordi's body, even when the captain arrived for breakfast in an attempt to retain as much normalcy in their routine as possible. The presence of witnesses to their usually intimate morning ritual no doubt contributed to the tension that was now carrying over into the meeting.

"Data and I analyzed the sensor logs and we detected traces of an unusual ionic particle trail coming from an unidentified subspace anomaly moving away from the sector that the shuttle passed through. We were able to calculate by its velocity and course that it terminates near a small planetoid in the Sargas system," explained Geordi as he brought up the visuals on the monitor.

Will stood up and expanded the view on the monitor. "The Sargas system? That's pretty deep in the Badlands, Geordi."

"I know. However, despite all of the distortions in the sector, the energy signatures of the phenomenon that hit the shuttle were so unique that we were still able to nail down its trajectory."

"Unique in what way, Commander?"

"Well, Captain, it's a little hard to explain. We have never encountered anything quite like this. It was biomagnetic in nature."

"Geordi, are you saying that whatever did this may be a life form?"

"Counselor, until we get close enough to get better readings, I can't really tell you what, or who it is."

An uneasy hush fell over the room and Data watched as the captain stared at the monitor with the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes. Across from him the doctor fidgeted and bit down on her lower lip as her jaw jutted back and forth.

"How long will it take us to get to the Sargas system at maximum warp?" asked the captain.

Geordi motioned over to Data, who looked down at the padd in his hand for the number. If he had been in his own body, he would've been able to recite the information instantly. The fact that he couldn't was a stark reminder that he no longer had access to his informational database. He didn't have the time to ponder the specifics of how it made him feel, but off the top of his 'borrowed' head, he labeled it as 'frustrated.'

"By our calculations, at warp nine-point-six it, will take exactly thirty-five-point-twenty-seven hours."

"Thirty-five _more_ hours?"

"I am sorry, Doctor, but the large number of unmapped plasma storms and gravitational anomalies in that sector of space will require us to manually navigate around the unstable regions to avoid disruptions to the ships primary systems."

"You're right, Mr. Data. And unfortunately, we do not have any other options. Make it so," answered the captain.

Geordi nodded and headed straight for the conn station on the bridge, followed by Deanna and Will. Data rose to head for the ops when he suddenly stopped and reached for his belly, wincing.

Beverly rushed over and pulled out her tricorder. "Data, what is it? Is something wrong?"

He sat down and smirked while she took bioscans of the fetus. "I am…fine. I am simply unaccustomed to the movements of the child, which have become particularly vigorous within the last few minutes."

"Are you sure?" asked the captain, looming protectively over both of them, his eyes filled with unease.

"Everything looks normal. I think she's just agitated." Beverly put the tricorder aside and reached over to manually examine the spot that Data had grabbed. "Jean-Luc, this is amazing."

The captain leaned in to try to see what she was seeing. "What is?"

"_The visor_. Being a doctor, I have been trained to be able to pick up the feeling of faint fetal movements as early as fourteen weeks, but the visor actually shows the spot where she is growing as giving off a different energy signature than the rest of my body. It's like a little dance of red light floating around in a bubble of blue right here."

Beverly brought the Jean-Luc's hand over and placed it on the spot she indicated. For what seemed like minutes, the three of them lingered there with their hands pressing into various spots on her abdomen, feeling for signs of life from the baby.

"I don't feel anything."

"Just wait. It's called 'quickening' and the sensation is almost like little ripples under the skin…"

Without looking up, Beverly slowly entwined her fingers in the captain's, and he responded by bringing his free hand over and resting it on hers. The darkness that had been clouding his eyes started to fade as it was replaced with the sparkle of wonder.

"My god, I can feel it."

"That's our little girl, Jean-Luc."

For the briefest of moments, it was almost as if Data wasn't even there and all was right with the universe while they focused on the tiny, little being growing inside of Beverly. Data had never experienced the intensity and raw emotion of that kind of closeness before. It was like a warm, physical force wrapping itself around them, and he could feel a lump forming in his throat again. All he could think of to do was slip one arm around Beverly and the other around the Jean-Luc and pull them in close against his chest. The sensation was intensely moving, and for the first time, he could understand the _full_ impact it would have should their efforts to reverse the switch fail.

* * *

Thirty-five hours might as well have been thirty-five days as the crew waited to arrive at the Sargas system. For Data, the parts of Beverly's life that had been a novelty to him, like the ability to discern the distinctive flavors of food and variety of sensations that the flesh was susceptible to were quickly being overwhelmed by the emotions associated with being human. They were fascinating, but in the end, they were not his emotions and this was not his life. For the moment, there was only one thing that allowed him to get back in touch with his former routine, and that was the familiar and welcoming position at the Ops station.

"Captain, we are now entering the Sargas system. The probes sensors are reading a Class 'L' planet orbiting the central star."

"On screen, Mr. Data."

The star field on the screen ahead of them was replaced by the image of an azure blue planet enrobed by a shimmering nebula that seemed to change colors as it swirled in non-descript patterns.

"So that is our mystery planet. Are there any life signs?"

"The scans are inconclusive, Sir. The biomagnetic energy seems to be scrambling signal."

Beverly shot a warning glance over to the captain from her seat next to Deanna. "Kind of like it scrambled us?"

Jean-Luc met her gaze with his own expression of concern. "Commander LaForge, increase power to the shields. Counselor, are you picking up anything that would suggest sentient life down there?"

"I'm not sure," she answered, closing her eyes to focus. "Yes. There is definitely something do-"

"Captain! We are being scanned!" yelled Worf as the red alert klaxon sounded. "The probe has penetrated the shields and is accessing our language database and personnel files."

"Modulating shield phase variance to compensate," responded Geordi. "The shields are not responding, Captain!"

"Commander, send out a hail to the planet on all frequencies."

"It looks like that won't be necessary."

The air on the bridge grew cold and seemed to vibrate as what looked like an offshoot of the nebula came through the screen and coalesced on the bridge in the form of a pale blue humanoid dressed in a shimmering, metallic-grey robe. It was masculine, but with a delicate, almost elvish face, piercing blue eyes, and long, white hair. In full warrior mode, Worf jumped over the rear railing with his phaser in hand.

"Stand down, Commander!" ordered the captain, signaling everyone to remain in their seats. "Stand down. If they had wanted to destroy the ship, they could have done so by now."

"Your captain is correct, Klingon. Do not worry. I am not here to hurt you. I am Jo'than of the Alshat. Why have you entered our system?"

Data watched as the captain looked around before walking slowly towards the alien visitor, and in a surprise reflex, he found himself covering the child protectively. Jo'than's voice was soft and non-threatening, but experience had taught them all that sometimes the biggest threats often came in the most innocuous packages.

"My name is Jean-Luc Picar-"

"We know who you are, Captain. We know who all of you are. But why are you here?"

"We are explorers, and were passing through this area of space when three of our people encountered a disturbance while traveling from Galor IV. Whatever that disturbance was has displaced my officers from their rightful bodies, and we followed a trail here in the hopes that we could find some answers."

"Ah yes. You speak of your crew's collision with the Al-raí."

"Who are the Al-raí?

"Not who, _what_. The Al-raí is the conscious force that carries our souls back to Elkhif-fá, the source of our being, so that we may prepare for rebirth."

"Your souls?"

"Yes."

The alien responded as if the captain should have already known the information, but then raised his hands thoughtfully. He moved gracefully to the front of the bridge and motioned to the view screen, which was now showing a series of cloud-like 'arms' stretching out from the nebula surrounding the planet that trailed off into space.

"Our people have not always been as we are now. We lived on this planet for millennia as sentient but brutish creatures of flesh, without identity or purpose, simply existing as part of the natural cycle of life and death on the surface. The Al- raí, who existed as energy with no form, were in search of a new way of life. They found our world and discovered that we could be vessels for their souls. Together, we became something new, the Alshat, beings with awareness, culture and history. And now, when our vessels die, our souls journey back to Elkhif-fá to wait as a new vessel is prepared. The Al-raí was on a path back to us when it inadvertently intercepted your shuttle, carrying with it the essences of your officers. Once it realized what happened, it endeavored to return them as quickly as it could. Please be sure that it did not mean your people any harm."

"We appreciate your candor, but unfortunately it seems that your Al-raí miscalculated which souls, belonged to which vessels, as you call them."

"We do not understand. The Alshsat do not put such importance on our physical beings. The richness of our existence is based on sharing our essences through the exchange of our souls into new vessels. Is this not the way of _your_ people?"

"Our people have learned that although certain aspects of our beings, like race and gender, are not important to our roles in society, our identities as individuals are uniquely tied to our physical forms, as are our connections to each other. Right now your Al-raí has…_disrupted_…those connections for my officers."

"I see." Jo'than replied as he looked around the room. Looking disturbed, he closed his eyes and reached out his hands, sending out a warm, colorful mist of light that danced around the room and scanned each of the officers before settling around Data, Geordi and Beverly and finally dissipating. "You have another life form inside of you," he said to Data, his head cocked in curiosity.

"Yes. It is the offspring of Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard."

"Do you not have children on your planet?" asked Beverly.

"No…when it is our time to move onto a new vessel, we are joined with it fully matured and ready to contribute to the greater good of the Al-raí."

"Well Jo'than, this is how our species reproduces. And in doing so, we form what is called a family."

"Jo'than," Beverly reached out for the alien's hand and at first he held it back, but then he reached out, allowing her to lead him forward to where Data was standing to place his hand right over the bump where the baby was growing. "This is my body. Growing inside here is my child. These people are _my_ family, and I need very much to be with them. Please tell me that you can return us to our original bodies."

Jo'than's hand jumped slightly when it felt the baby's movement, and he looked up at Beverly with an awestruck smile before straightening up and glancing around at the others. "I believe that I understand now. I will go back to my people and inform them that we must direct the Al- raí to return you all to your proper forms as soon as possible."

Jean-Luc smiled and walked to the front of the bridge with the alien. "Jo'than, there is so much that we do not know about each other. We have never encountered a species like yours and would like it if you would allow us to learn more about your people and this _Elkhif-fá_. Perhaps you would allow us to visit the surface of your world."

"Captain, you and your people have our sincerest apologies for this accident, and I promise you that the Al-raí will take extra precautions to make sure that this never happens again. However, I do not believe that it is the right time for my people to share our souls with your race. But perhaps some day, when your people have evolved past the limits of the flesh, we will meet again on the road to Elkhif-fá."

His last words seemed to echo in the air as Jo'than faded away as ethereally as he appeared. The speechless crew around as if they were waiting to see what would happen next when the ship started to quake. Before anyone could say a word, another bright light just like the one that the shuttle crew experienced glared across the bridge; and just like before, the event lasted exactly three-point-nine seconds.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: Three's Company**_

"_Beverly_? Beverly, can you hear me?"

Beverly stirred and moaned groggily as her eyelids fluttered open, but although she could make out the sound of Jean-Luc's voice, she still couldn't focus on his face. The room was spinning and her stomach lurched.

"Don't try to sit up too quickly."

"What happened?"

Before he could answer, she gasped when she realized that the sound of her _own_ voice was coming from her mouth. Her hands dashed from her face, to her hair, her breasts, and finally to her abdomen and she burst into tearful laughter when she felt soft movements of her daughter within her again. Finally unafraid to fully open her eyes, she looked up to find a circle of concerned faces hovering over her, including Doctor Selar, Will and Deanna.

"Doctor Crusher, you are in sickbay," answered Doctor Selar, who adjusted the backrest of her bed that she wouldn't have to sit up on her own. "You have been returned to your own body."

"And the baby?" she asked

"The child is in perfect health, as are Commander LaForge and Commander Data. It took you a little longer to regain consciousness, but I can find no indication of negative side effects."

"How do you feel?" asked Jean-Luc.

"Very happy to be back in my own body."

"Not as happy as I am to have you in it."

In a rare show of public affection, he took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles before reverently caressing her cheek and twisting his fingers into the waves of her hair. In her heart, Beverly swore to herself that she would never take the simple pleasure of those little gestures for granted as long as she lived.

"Welcome back, Doctor," interrupted Alyssa, "I thought you might want to see this for yourself."

Everyone gathered in to look at the latest scan of the now fully-formed baby girl, her tiny fingers flexing and heart beating rapidly through gossamer skin.

"My god, she's so beautiful."

"Oh Beverly, she's amazing!" choked Deanna.

"Yeah. She's got your nose, but definitely the captain's head," Will joked as Deanna jabbed him in the ribs.

"You just earned yourself a few watches on the gamma shift, Commander."

"Don't worry, Jean-Luc. I think a few nights of babysitting and diaper duty for Auntie Deanna and Uncle Will is going to be sufficient punishment. I just hope they can forgive us for not telling them about it sooner."

"There's nothing to forgive. Besides, I think that the gossip that this is going to cause once the news gets out will be sufficient punishment for _you_," she added with a wink. "I just can't believe that you were able to pull off such a big secret without me noticing."

"It wasn't easy, believe me. But surely you didn't think I stopped taking off my blue lab coat because it's so stylish and comfortable, did you?"

"No, but I'm just so used to seeing you in it that I never gave it a second thought. And that day I found you feeling sick in your office, you told me that someone from one of the away teams had exposed you to the Thelusian flu."

Beverly threw up her hands in defeat, laughing as she reached over and traced a finger across the image of her daughter on the screen. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but I think part of me still couldn't believe that she was real. And now I'm looking at her and feeling her move inside of me, and I still can't find the words."

Her eyes welling up again, Beverly looked over to Jean-Luc, who had remained quiet during the entire conversation with Deanna. His hand reached over and joined hers where it was resting on the image of the baby's face, and until Will spoke, she had almost felt as if they were the only ones in the room.

"Well, I just hope you're not going to keep the due date a secret. After all, I do have to get started on the baby pool." Jean-Luc raised a suspicious eyebrow as Beverly chuckled and watched Deanna pull Will away by the arm. "What did I say?"

"Come on, Commander. Let's give the three of them some time alone."

Deanna shared an understanding smile with Beverly as she and Will bid the little family farewell and headed out of sickbay while Doctor Selar and Alyssa made themselves busy in another corner of the room.

Before passing through the doorway, Deanna stole one last glance back and watched as Jean-Luc and Beverly wrapped their arms around each other, and then kissed slowly and passionately, as if they hadn't seen each other in ages. The wave of emotions besieged her empathic senses and she stopped halfway down the hall, bracing herself on Will's arm.

"What is it?" he asked, watching her eyes widen and mist up with tears. "What are you feeling?"

"Love, Will…_love_."

* * *

Five hours, ten minutes and forty-three seconds was how long it had been since that last flash of light that restored the away team to their original states. It took considerably less time for Data and Geordi to resume their normal routines once everyone was sure that all was as it should be.

Geordi had Data's head panel open and was doing a diagnostic of the android's positronic systems. "You know Data, it's nice to be back in my own body, but there's almost something I miss about being in yours. This diagnostic would have been done by now if I still had your brain."

"Geordi, if you still had my brain, we would probably not be proceeding with the diagnostic."

The chief engineer let out a hearty laugh and shook his head at how his friend had missed the point. "Yeah, Data, I guess you're right. But seriously, it was pretty interesting being in your body. You don't need to eat, sleep, are not interrupted by distractions, you have no real need for company. I envy you sometimes. Life can be very complicated for us humans."

"I am beginning to understand the validity of that statement. The situations I experienced while in Doctor Crusher's body were quite compelling. However, I find it unfortunate that although I have retained with perfect clarity the details of every moment, I can no longer adequately quantify the feelings associated with them. In fact, this entire incident is what has prompted me to consider installing the emotion chip. I wish to explore the concept of emotional bonding and the need humans have to be connected to someone in that manner."

Geordi paused for a moment as Data held the chip up in front of him. "Data, you should know that the feelings associated with human relationships are not always happy and positive. Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard are very lucky. A lot of people often go through life never having their emotional needs fulfilled. Are you ready to take that kind of chance?"

"For the past seven years on the ship, I have been performing my duties, and experimenting with personal enrichment hobbies. However, although they add to my knowledge database, the current parameters of my existence are no longer sufficient to fill my needs. I have learned all that I can in my current state and I cannot _fully_ comprehend the significance of the knowledge that I have accumulated without emotion, which is not the same as analytical confirmation. Additionally, although the more time I spend with any given person, my neural pathways can become accustomed to their sensory input patterns, thus creating a sense of familiarity, it is not the same as really _feeling_ friendship, Geordi."

"I supposed you're right. And ultimately, personal growth _is_ the life-long goal of most sentient beings. Still, you're pretty lucky."

"In what way, Geordi?"

"Well, if you don't like how things turn out, you can always turn your emotions off."

Data turned to face him and stared for a moment as if he couldn't understand his friend's misgivings, and then handed him the clamp holding the tiny device. Geordi inserted the chip very carefully into its place and made a few last-minute adjustments before powering up the link.

"Are you ready, Data?"

"Yes. Please initiate the connection."

Geordi took a deep breath and tapped some commands on his computer panel. With a series of flashing lights, the emotion chip interfaced with Data's positronic nueronet and sent his body into a series of violent convulsions.

"Data! Can you hear me? Something's wrong…I'm terminating the link."

"No…"

Data reached out and stopped Geordi's hand from severing the connection.

As his positronic net and neural sub processors danced with newfound purpose, reevaluating everything that had happened to him over the past days, Data's eyes widened with realization. Twelve-five-point-three seconds was all it lasted, sending images flashing through his mind…Tasha, Lore, Soong, Juliana, Beverly's unborn child, and finally his own daughter, Lal.

"_I love you, father._"

"_I wish I could feel it with you._"

"_I will feel it for both of us. Thank you for my life._"

"Wow…"

With that, a single, yellow tear rolled down his pale cheek.


End file.
